The invention generally relates to a modular tailgating system for use in the preparation and enjoyment of food and beverages at a sporting or outdoor event. The invention further relates to a vehicular food, beverage and entertainment system typically for mounting in a rear portion of a passenger-type vehicle. In one aspect, the system described herein has a housing defining several temperature-specific chambers therein which are adapted to receive one of several interchangeable modules to provide a wide range of functionality to the system.
While attending group gatherings such as sporting events, picnics, and children""s sporting events such as Little League games, to enhance the enjoyment of the event, it has become commonplace to bring food and beverages in one""s vehicle to consume once the vehicle has been parked at the group gathering. These types of group gatherings at sporting events are often referred to as xe2x80x9ctailgate parties.xe2x80x9d Often, people gather around a hatchback portion of a typical vehicle (often a large passenger-style car such as a sport-utility vehicle or a minivan) or the bed of a truck and consume the food and beverages. The food and beverages are typically packed in foam or other insulated coolers. In the case of food and beverages which are desired to be kept cold, the food and beverages are packed in a cooler and typically surrounded with ice. In the case of food and beverages which are desired to be kept warm, the food and beverages are packed in a cooler after typically having been pre-cooked and packed in the cooler while still warm. In the case of food and beverages which are desired to be cooked at the group gathering site, the food is typically packed in a cooler with ice, and the attendees of the party often assemble a gas or charcoal grill adjacent to the vehicle after arriving at the site and cook the food thereon.
Food preparation and serving for these types of group gatherings is often difficult because of the outdoor location of the event and the portability required of the equipment, and it can be even more difficult than at home cooking to keep the food and beverages at a desired serving temperature. For example, if some of the food and beverages are needed to be kept at one temperature (such as a warm temperature) and other of the food and beverages are needed to be kept at another temperature (such as a cold temperature), the packing, assembly and transport of the food and beverages can be even more difficult. In addition, if any of the food needs to be cooked at the gathering site, the attendees must also bring a grill and an appropriate fuel source (such as charcoal). The number of coolers for warm food and beverages, coolers for cold food and beverages, coolers for food that needs to be kept cold prior to cooking, and a grill (as needed) can require a substantial amount of space in the vehicle is well as substantial inconvenience in packing the vehicle and unpacking the vehicle at the gathering site. For example, to attend a football game at a major college or professional team arena, attendees at a group gathering site prior to the football game often travel several hours to arrive at the gathering site and have a limited period of time in which to unpack the vehicle, prepare the food and beverages, cook any food on a grill, consume the food and beverages, and pack up the vehicle again with everything that was unloaded.
There have been previous attempts to make these types of group gatherings around a vehicle more convenient. For example, the xe2x80x9cGrill and Chillxe2x80x9d unit, available from Grill-N-Chill, is a box-like housing which supports a grill and a cooler in adjacent positions which is then carried in a hatchback portion of a suitable vehicle. Also, DJ systems has come up with a customized pickup truck installation which includes convenience features such as a grill (a high-end model available from Dynamic Cooking Systems), running water available from an onboard water tank, a small sink and a beer tap interconnectable to a beer tank apparently brought separately from the onboard truck installation.
However, the prior art still falls short of providing a full-service group gathering unit because the prior art still requires separate coolers for cooling and warming functions and, in the case of the DJ systems unit, the prior art must be permanently installed in the vehicle which has a bed of sufficient size to support the DJ systems unit. The vehicle of sufficient size must typically be the entire bed of a pickup truck or a sport-utility vehicle and/or a minivan (with both the second and the optional third row of seats removed).
The invention relates to a tailgating system preferably comprising food, beverage and entertainment systems, and which preferably retractably mounted within a rear hatchback portion of the vehicle, which can be easily reconfigured with modular components to easily provide a mixture of food- and beverage-cooling and warming functions as well as a food-cooking function. In various embodiments of the invention, the modular components which can be selectively attached to the system include, but are not limited to, warming drawers, cooling drawers, a refrigerator, a microwave, hot and cold beverage dispensers, an ice maker, a rotisserie, and a crockpot. In addition, the system includes a water sub-system which provides running water to a sink located on the system into the ice maker. Further, the system also includes an electrical sub-system which, in addition to providing power to each of the modular components which require it, also includes a computer- and relay-controlled power management system which can perform power cycling in management functions to conserve power, especially when running on onboard batteries for the system. The system can also include an entertainment sub-system which can include a compact disc player, a television, a cassette player, a video cassette recorder, a DVD player, a satellite dish, and any other audio or video component as well as one or more speakers to deliver sound independent of the vehicular stereo sound system.
In one aspect, the invention relates to a tailgating system for a vehicle comprising: a housing removably mountable to a vehicle and selectively interconnectable to a power source comprising at least one of a vehicle DC power source when the vehicle is in an unignited state, a vehicle DC power source when the vehicle is in an ignited state, and an AC power source, the housing having at least one recess defined therein; and at least two modular components having at least one of warming, cooling and cooking functionality, wherein at least one of the at least two modular components can be selectively received in the at least one recess and are interconnectable to the power source. The tailgating system can thereby be reconfigured for different events by selecting different ones of the at least two modular components and mounting the selected ones within the recess in the housing and connecting the same to the power source.
In various embodiments of the invention, at least one of the at least two modular components can comprise a warmer adapted to be removably mounted within the at least one recess of the housing and interconnected to the power source. At least one of the at least two modular components can comprise a warming drawer adapted to be slidably mounted within the at least one recess of the housing and interconnected to the power source. At least one of the at least two modular components can comprise a cooling drawer adapted to be slidably mounted within the at least one recess of the housing and interconnected to the power source. At least one of the at least two modular components can comprise a refrigerator adapted to be mounted within the at least one recess of the housing and interconnected to the power source. At least one of the at least two modular components can comprise a cooler adapted to be mounted within the at least one recess of the housing.
An entertainment system can be mounted to the housing and interconnected to the power source for providing entertainment to users of the system. The entertainment system can be, e.g., an audio entertainment system mounted to the housing and interconnected to the power source for providing audible entertainment to users of the system, or a video entertainment system mounted to the housing and interconnected to the power source for providing visible entertainment to users of the system.
The housing can be divided into a warm zone and a cool zone, wherein the warm zone is heated by a temperature increaser, and wherein the cool zone is cooled by a temperature decreaser. An insulation layer can separate the warm and cool zones.
A sink can be mounted to the housing. At least one fresh water tank can be mounted to the housing for dispensing fresh water into the sink. The fresh water tank can be in fluid communication with a warm zone within the housing to heat water dispensed from the tank into the sink. A water heater can be mounted to the housing to heat water dispensed from the tank into the sink. An icemaker can be fluidly interconnected to the fresh water tank. A waste tank can be mounted to the housing and fluidly interconnected to the at least one recess for collecting waste therefrom. The sink can have a drain, wherein the drain in the sink can be fluidly interconnected to the waste tank. The waste tank can thereby receive waste fluid exiting the sink through the drain.
A beverage dispenser can be mounted to the housing comprising a stored volume of a preselected beverage and a dispenser operably interconnected to the stored volume for selected dispensing of the beverage therein. The beverage dispenser can further comprise a source of pressurized fluid interconnected to the stored volume of beverage for carbonation thereof.
A top surface of the housing can further comprise at least one cookstove burner thereon, the at least one burner being interconnected to the power source. A cooking device can be mounted to the housing for movement between a stored position proximate the housing and a use position distal to the housing. The cooking device can be detachably mounted to the housing and, in the use position, the cooking device can be disconnected from the housing. The cooking device can be, e.g., a grill. The grill can, e.g., employ charcoal as a cooking fuel or can also employ ignited gas as a cooking fuel.
A power source detector can be provided on the housing that is interconnected to the power source for determining the particular source of power supplied to the housing. A power optimizer can be operably interconnected to the power source detector for optimizing the power supplied to at least one of the onboard modular components. A power cycling component can be provided that is interconnectable to the power source for periodically preventing at least one of the onboard modular components from drawing power from the power source to conserve energy required by the system.
The vehicle can have one of a hitch and a hitch receiver on a rear portion thereof, the housing has the other of a hitch and a hitch receiver on a forward portion thereof, and the housing is provided with a pair of ground-engaging wheels whereby the housing can be towed behind the vehicle when the hitch receiver is mounted to the hitch. The vehicle can also have a rear storage portion thereof provided with a pair of elongated rails in generally juxtaposed parallel relationship and the housing is slidably mounted within the vehicle rear storage portion upon the rails between a retracted and an extended position.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for preparing a system for a tailgating event, the system including a housing with at least one recess defined therein, and wherein the housing is selectively interconnectable to a power source, the method comprises the steps of: choosing at least one modular component having at least one of warming, cooling and cooking functionality based on characteristics of the tailgating event; and mounting the chosen at least one modular component to a corresponding one of the at least one recess in the housing.
The method can also comprise the step of operably interconnecting the chosen at least one module component to the power source. The power source can comprise at least one of a vehicle DC power source when the vehicle is in an unignited state, a vehicle DC power source when the vehicle is in an ignited state, and an AC power source. The method can also further comprise the step of reconfiguring the system with different onboard modular components for a different tailgating event with different characteristics.